Bioaccessibility of inorganic arsenic species in raw and cooked Hizikia fusiforme
seaweed.

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APPLIED ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
Speciation
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/aoc.732
Analysis and Environment
Bioaccessibility of inorganic arsenic species in raw
and cooked Hizikia fusiforme seaweed
J. M. Laparra1 , D. Vélez1 , R. Montoro1 *, R. Barberá2 and R. Farré2
1
2
Instituto de Agroquı́mica y Tecnologı́a de Alimentos (CSIC), Apartado 73, 46100 Burjassot (Valencia), Spain
Nutrition and Food Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Avda. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
Received 24 April 2004; Accepted 19 June 2004
Samples of Hizikia fusiforme edible seaweed, a commercially available dried food with high
concentrations of total arsenic (t-As) and inorganic arsenic (i-As), both raw and cooked (boiling
at 100 ◦ C, 20 min), were selected for the bioaccessibility study. Cooking caused a significant reduction
in the concentrations of t-As (30–43%) and i-As (46–50%), despite which the i-As contents in the
cooked product were high (42.7–44.6 µg g−1 seaweed). An in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (pepsin,
pH 2, and pancreatin–bile extract, pH 7) was applied to the seaweed to estimate arsenic bioaccessibility
(maximum soluble concentration in gastrointestinal medium) of t-As, i-As, arsenic(III) and arsenic(V).
The influence of the gastric and intestinal stages of the in vitro digestion method was evaluated. The
gastric stage is the key stage in the solubilization of both t-As and i-As. The bioaccessible i-As in
raw seaweed (54.0–66.5%) increases after cooking (78.3–84.4%), a fact that is considered to be of
interest because this is the usual form in which this seaweed is ingested. Speciation of the i-As
in the bioaccessible fraction revealed a different arsenic(III)/arsenic(V) relationship in the product
when raw or cooked. When raw, the majority species was arsenic(III) after either the gastric or
the gastrointestinal stage, whereas in the cooked product it depended on the batch analysed, with
bioaccessible arsenic(III) contents of 7.1–25.4 µg g−1 of dried seaweed, which represents 5–17% of the
i-As tolerable daily intake. Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEYWORDS: arsenite; arsenate; inorganic arsenic; seaweed; cooking; bioaccessibility
INTRODUCTION
Of all the species of arsenic that humans can ingest from
foods, inorganic arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) species are the
most toxic. The sum of these two species, known as inorganic
arsenic (i-As), has been classified as a human carcinogen by
the International Agency for Research on Cancer,1 and, on
the basis of epidemiological data referring to i-As in drinking
water, the WHO has established a provisional tolerable
weekly intake (PTWI) for i-As of 15 µg week−1 per kilogram
body weight.2
Seafoods, including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and edible
seaweed, are the foods in which the highest arsenic contents
are found. The i-As contents in fish and fish products
*Correspondence to: R. Montoro, Instituto de Agroquı́mica y
Tecnologı́a de Alimentos (CSIC), Apartado 73, 46100 Burjassot
(Valencia), Spain.
E-mail: rmontoro@iata.csic.es
Contract/grant sponsor: Ministry of Science and Technology (MCyT).
generally do not exceed 0.1 mg kg−1 wet weight,3 so that
at present it is considered that fish consumption does not
represent a health risk. For edible seaweed the situation
might well be different, as high contents of i-As have been
quantified in species such as Hizikia fusiforme,4 – 7 attaining
135 mg kg−1 dry weight (DW), 91% of the total arsenic (tAs).8 These high contents do not seem to be attributable to
growth of the seaweed in an environment contaminated by
arsenic, but rather to its natural tendency to accumulate iAs. We are not aware of any studies that evaluate dietary
exposure to i-As in seaweed, but an estimation performed by
Almela et al.6 on the basis of an analysis of various seaweeds
showed that the risk of exceeding the PTWI value is a reality
with a consumption of 3 g day−1 of H. fusiforme.
Any evaluation of the risk associated with the ingestion
of i-As should consider not only the content in the product,
but also the arsenic bioavailability for humans (fraction of
arsenic absorbed which reaches the systemic circulation and
is available to exercise its action in the receiving organism).
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Speciation Analysis and Environment
Bioavailability depends largely on the ability to cross the
intestinal barrier of the ultimate soluble physicochemical
forms in which arsenic, after gastrointestinal digestion,
reaches the absorption site, mainly the duodenum. After
human gastrointestinal digestion the soluble arsenic species
need not necessarily coincide with the species present in the
raw product, as modifications of species may be brought
about both by processing of the product9 and by the digestive
process.10 The in vitro gastrointestinal models offer a simple
and inexpensive approach to achieve information about
bioavailability.11 The results of these models must be taken
as relative indexes for bioavailability, which means that the
methods provide a good basis for establishing tendencies,
making comparisons and determining effects caused by
different factors.12
Various models of in vitro digestion have been used to
estimate the bioaccessible fraction (maximum concentration
soluble in simulated gastrointestinal media that is available
for subsequent processes of absorption into the intestinal
mucosa)13 of arsenic in soil.13,14 However, the bioaccessible
fraction of arsenic in foods has only been studied in
seaweed.7,15 In the work carried out by Laparra et al.,7 it
was shown that over 40% of the i-As present in raw seaweed
and over 70% of the content in cooked seaweed remains
available for absorption into the intestinal mucosa.
The aim of the present work was to study the influence
of the gastric and intestinal stages of a simulated human
digestion method on the bioaccessibility of t-As, i-As,
arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) in H. fusiforme edible seaweed.
The effect of cooking of the seaweed on the bioaccessibility of
these arsenic species was also studied.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Instruments
For the separation of arsenic species the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system consisted of a Hewlett
Packard Model 1100 (Barcelona, Spain) with a quaternary
pump, an on-line degassing system, an automatic injector
and a thermostatted column compartment. Separations were
performed on a Hamilton PRP-X100 anion-exchange column (10 µm, 250 mm × 4.1 mm i.d., Teknokroma, Barcelona,
Spain). A guard column packed with the same stationary
phase (12–20 µm; 25 mm × 2.3 mm i.d.) preceded the analytical column. For quantification of arsenic species, the outlet
of the HPLC column was directed to a hydride-generation
system (PSA 10.004, Analytical, UK) coupled to an atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) system (PSA 10.044 Excalibur
PS, Analytical, UK) equipped with a boosted-discharge hollow cathode lamp (BDHCL, Photron, Super Lamp, Victoria,
Australia). A Hewlett Packard Model 35 900 C digital–analog
converter was used to acquire the AFS signal, which was
processed by the chromatographic software.
For t-As determination, a Perkin Elmer (PE) model
3300 atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with an
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bioaccessibility of inorganic arsenic in seaweed
autosampler (PE AS-90), a flow-injection hydride-generation
system (PE FIAS-400) and an electrothermally heated quartz
cell was employed. Other equipment used included a
lyophilizer equipped with a microprocessor controlling the
lyophilization process (FTS Systems, New York, USA), a PL
5125 sand bath (Raypa Scharlau S.L., Barcelona, Spain), a
K1253 muffle furnace equipped with a Eurotherm Controls
902 control program (Heraeus S.A., Madrid, Spain), a KS
125 Basic mechanical shaker (IKA Labortechnik, Merck,
Barcelona, Spain), an Eppendorf 5810 centrifuge (Merck),
and a Sorvall RC-50B centrifuge.
Reagents
Deionized water (18.2 M cm) obtained with a Milli-Q water
system (Millipore Inc., Millipore Ibérica, Madrid, Spain) was
used for the preparation of reagents and standards. Water of
cellular grade (B. Braun Medical, S.A., Barcelona, Spain) was
used throughout the in vitro digestion assay. All glassware
was treated with 10% (v/v) HNO3 for 24 h and then rinsed
three times with deionized water before being used.
For the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, enzymes and bile
salts were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St Louis,
MO): pepsin (Porcine: cat. no. P-7000), pancreatin (Porcine;
cat. no. P-1750), and bile extract (Porcine; cat. no. B-8631).
Standard solutions of arsenic(V) (Merck) and arsenic(III)
[prepared by dissolving 1.320 g of arsenic trioxide (Riedel
de Haën, Hanover, Germany) in 25 mL 20% (w/v) KOH
solution, neutralized with 20% (v/v) H2 SO4 and diluted to 1 l
with 1% (v/v) H2 SO4 )] were employed.
Samples
H. fusiforme edible brown seaweed, sold as dry seaweed, cut
and packed in plastic, was purchased in healthfood stores
in the city of Valencia (Spain). Samples from three different
batches (A, B, C) were analysed just as they were sold, which
we have called the raw state, and after being cooked by
applying the cooking treatment indicated on the product
label: boil in water 100 ◦ C/20 min (10 g of seaweed/167 ml
of water). The samples (raw and cooked) were maintained at
4 ◦ C until analysis.
In vitro gastrointestinal digestion7
Samples of each batch of H. fusiforme (5 g), raw or cooked,
were weighed and cellular-grade water (90 ml) was added.
The pH was adjusted to 2.0 with 6 mol l−1 HCl. After 15 min
the pH value was checked and if necessary readjusted to
pH 2.0. Then, freshly prepared pepsin solution (1 g of pepsin
in 10 ml of 0.1 mol l−1 HCl) was added to provide 0.01 g
of pepsin/5 g seaweed. The sample was made up to 100 g
with water, and incubated in a shaking water bath (stroke
rate 120 min−1 ) at 37 ◦ C for 2 h. With the gastric digestion
terminated at this point, 40 g aliquots were transferred from
half the samples to polypropylene centrifuge tubes and
centrifuged (15 000 rpm/30 min/4 ◦ C) to separate the soluble
fraction. The t-As, i-As and individual species arsenic(III) and
arsenic(V) were determined in these gastric soluble fractions.
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
663
664
J. M. Laparra et al.
In the other half of the samples the digestion continued
in the intestinal stage. For this purpose the pH value was
raised to pH 5.0 by drop-wise addition of 1 mol l−1 NaHCO3 .
Then the pancreatin–bile extract mixture (0.2 g of pancreatin
and 1.25 g of bile extract in 50 ml of 0.1 mol l−1 NaHCO3 )
was added to provide 0.0025 g of pancreatin/5 g seaweed
and 0.015 g of bile extract/5 g seaweed, and the incubation
at 37 ◦ C continued for 2 h. The pH was then adjusted to
7.2 by drop-wise addition of 0.5 mol l−1 NaOH. Aliquots of
40 g were transferred to polypropylene centrifuge tubes and
centrifuged (15 000 rpm/30 min/4 ◦ C) to separate the soluble
fraction. The t-As, i-As and individual species arsenic(III) and
arsenic(V) were determined in these gastrointestinal soluble
fractions.
Determination of t-As
Analysis was performed by flow-injection hydride-generation
atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HG-AAS) after a dry ashing step.6 Samples of seaweed and soluble fractions from
the gastric and gastrointestinal stages obtained by in vitro
digestion were analysed.
Raw and cooked seaweed (0.25 g) or soluble fraction (0.2 g)
was treated with 2.5 ml of ashing aid suspension (20% w/v
MgNO3 + 2% w/v MgO) and 5 ml of nitric acid (50% v/v).
The mixture was evaporated to dryness and mineralized at
450 ◦ C with a gradual increase in temperature. The white ash
was dissolved in 5 ml of 6 mol l−1 HCl and reduced with 5 ml
of reducing solution (5% w/v KI and 5% w/v ascorbic acid).
After 30 min this solution was filtered through Whatman
No. 1 filter paper into a 25 ml volumetric flask and diluted
to volume with 6 mol l−1 HCl. The arsenic was quantified
by FI-HG-AAS using the following instrumental conditions:
loop sample, 0.5 ml; reducing agent, 0.2% (w/v) NaBH4 in
0.05% (w/v) NaOH, 5 ml min−1 flow rate; HCl solution 10%
(v/v), 10 ml min−1 flow rate; carrier gas argon, 100 ml min−1
flow rate; wavelength 193.7 nm; spectral band-pass 0.7 nm;
electrodeless discharge lamp system 2, lamp current setting
400 mA; cell temperature 900 ◦ C.
The accuracy of measurement throughout the experiment
was checked by analysing a certified reference material
with each batch of sample: BCR-279 sea lettuce Ulva lactuca
(Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, IRMM,
Brussels, Belgium).
Determination of i-As
Analysis was performed by acid digestion, solvent extraction
FI-HG-AAS.6 Samples of seaweed and soluble fractions from
the gastric and gastrointestinal stages obtained by in vitro
digestion were analysed.
Deionized water (4.1 ml) and concentrated HCl (18.4 ml)
were added to raw and cooked seaweed (0.5 g) or soluble
fraction (0.2 g) and the mixture was left overnight. After
reduction by HBr (2 ml) and hydrazine sulfate (1.5% w/v,
1 ml), the i-As was extracted into chloroform (3 × 10 ml)
and back-extracted into 1 mol l−1 HCl (2 × 10 ml). For
determination of i-As in the back-extraction phase, 2.5 ml
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Speciation Analysis and Environment
of ashing aid suspension (20% w/v MgNO3 + 2% w/v MgO)
and 10 ml of concentrated HNO3 were added. The mixture
was evaporated to dryness and then treated in the same way
as for t-As (dry ashing FI-HG-AAS).
There are no reference materials with certified i-As content,
so the quality criterion adopted was the overlapping between
the ranges of i-As found in BCR-279 sea lettuce U. lactuca
(IRMM) and those reported in this sample in a previous
study (1.21–1.33 µg g−1 DW).6
Clean-up procedure
The soluble fractions (gastric and gastrointestinal stages)
obtained after applying the in vitro digestion method to both
raw and cooked H. fusiforme were subjected to a cleanup procedure prior to quantification of arsenic(III) and
arsenic(V) by HPLC–HG-AFS. A strong cation-exchanger
resin AG 50W-X8 H+ (100–200 mesh, Bio Rad), bed height
30 mm, bed diameter 10 mm, was used.16 The sample was
eluted by gravity. Aliquots of soluble fraction (10 g) were
adjusted to a pH less than 2 with 4 mol l−1 HCl. The acidified
solution was passed through the resin, which was then
washed with 20 ml of 0.01 mol l−1 HCl solution and 20 ml of
deionized water. The two fractions were collected jointly and
lyophilized. The dry residue was redissolved with deionized
water (5 ml) and filtered through a Whatman 0.45 µm filter
before HPLC injection.
Determination of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) by
HPLC–HG-AFS
Aliquots of 100 µl of the soluble fractions (gastric and gastrointestinal) treated by the clean-up procedure were injected
into the PRP-X100 anion-exchange column. Separations were
performed with a flow rate of 1 ml min−1 at 25 ◦ C with a gradient of mobile phases (A: 5 mmol l−1 (NH4 )H2 PO4 , pH 5.75;
B: 100 mmol l−1 (NH4 )H2 PO4 , pH 5.75; gradient programme
0–4 min: 100% A; 4.1–10 min: 50% A and 50% B; 10.1–15 min:
100% A). The outlet of the HPLC column was mixed with
a continuous flow of HCl (1.5 mol l−1 , 6.0 ml min−1 ) and
NaBH4 (1.5% w/v NaBH4 in 0.7% w/v NaOH, 2.5 ml min−1 )
using PTFE tubing and T-joints. Using a gas–liquid separator
and a continuous flow of argon (300 ml min−1 flow rate), the
arsines generated were introduced into the AFS system by
means of a hygroscopic-membrane drying tube (Perma Pure).
An additional flow of hydrogen gas (60 ml min−1 ) permitted
partial maintenance of the flame. The arsenic lamp operated
at a primary current of 27.5 mA and a boost current of 35 mA.
Arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) were identified by matching
the retention times of the peaks in the sample chromatograms
with those obtained from standards, and were quantified
with external calibration curves established with arsenic(III)
and arsenic(V).
Statistical analysis
A paired-sample comparison by a Student’s t-test was
applied to evaluate differences in t-As and i-As contents.17
A significance level of p < 0.05 was adopted for all
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
Speciation Analysis and Environment
Bioaccessibility of inorganic arsenic in seaweed
comparisons. Statgraphics Plus version 4.0 (Statistical
Graphics) was used for the statistical analysis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the raw samples, t-As and i-As were analysed and were
subjected to gastrointestinal digestion. The samples were
cooked and the resulting wet product was analysed for t-As
and i-As and subjected to gastrointestinal digestion. In order
to compare the results obtained in the analysis of raw and
cooked samples the results were expressed in the same units,
as micrograms per gram of seaweed, dry weight. In doing
so we took into account the residual moisture in the raw
seaweed and the moisture of the cooked product.
The t-As and i-As contents in raw and cooked H.
fusiforme
In the raw seaweed, the three manufactured batches analysed
(A, B, C) all had very high arsenic contents: the t-As
was 125.8–131.7 µg g−1 seaweed, DW, and the i-As was
79.7–87.7 µg g−1 seaweed, DW, (Table 1). It is worth stressing
the high percentage of i-As with respect to t-As (62–70%),
unlike the situation in other brown seaweeds, where the
abundance of literature published, although not necessarily
coinciding in terms of extraction methods, shows that
arsenosugars are the majority species.
Boiling (100 ◦ C/20 min) caused a significant reduction (p <
0.05) in the contents with respect to the raw product (Table 1):
30–43% for t-As and 46–50% for i-As. The losses of arsenic
were caused by solubilization in the cooking water. Hanaoka
et al.8 have shown that treatments of washing and soaking
with water applied before cooking reduce the t-As content of
H. fusiforme in a range from 32% to 60%, the reduction being
due mainly to loss of i-As. In our work, the results obtained
after analysis of batch A, i.e. the mass balance between the
t-As in the raw sample (128.7 ± 2.9 µg g−1 seaweed, DW),
the t-As in the cooked sample (90.7 ± 7.1 µg g−1 seaweed,
DW) and the t-As in the cooking water (41.9 ± 1.8 µg g−1
seaweed, DW), rule out the possibility of losses of arsenic
by some other mechanism. In the cooking water there was a
predominance of arsenic(V) (37.9 ± 1.8 µg g−1 seaweed, DW)
over arsenic(III) (0.43 ± 0.11 µg g−1 seaweed, DW).
Despite the decrease in the i-As contents as a result of
cooking, the final concentration in the cooked product was
still high (42.7–44.6 µg g−1 seaweed), much higher than the
concentrations found previously in any other seaweed or food
consumed by humans. This particular food should, therefore,
be the object of greater toxicological attention because of its
high content of carcinogenic i-As. The results obtained also
show how important it is in the evaluation of risk assessments
to consider the effect that the treatments applied to seaweeds
before consumption have on the i-As contents.
The t-As and i-As contents found in the three batches analysed were fairly homogeneous. The significant differences
(p < 0.05) observed were between the t-As values of two
of the batches of cooked seaweed analysed (A and B) and
between the i-As values of raw batch A compared with the
other two batches.
The t-As and i-As in soluble fractions
The t-As and i-As contents in the soluble fractions obtained
after applying a gastric and a gastrointestinal stage to the
various batches of raw and cooked H. fusiforme are shown in
Table 2. In raw H. fusiforme, the solubilized t-As in the gastric
stage decreased significantly (p < 0.05) during the intestinal
stage in batches A and C, remaining unchanged in batch B.
For i-As, the solubility only varied significantly (p > 0.05)
between the gastric stage and the intestinal stage in batch C.
In cooked H. fusiforme the behaviour was different from
that described for raw seaweed, as no statistically significant
changes (p > 0.05) took place in t-As or i-As solubilized
during the gastric and gastrointestinal stages.
The results obtained show that in both raw and cooked H.
fusiforme the gastric stage limits the maximum content of t-As
and solubilized i-As (Table 2). This was also shown by Hamel
et al.18 in a study on bioavailability of arsenic from soils, in
which they indicated that the stomach is the region of the
gastrointestinal tract that is considered to have the greatest
influence on arsenic bioavailability. The low pH in the gastric
stage seems to be a prerequisite for solubilizing arsenic.14
In fact, in studies carried out with contaminated soils, a
linear correlation (r = 0.82) was obtained between the arsenic
solubilized in the gastric stage after in vitro gastrointestinal
digestion and excretion of arsenic in the urine of immature
Table 1. Total and inorganic arsenic contents in raw and cooked Hizikia fusiforme (µg g−1 , dry weight)
Total As
Batch
A
B
C
Inorganic As
Raw
Cooked
Raw
Cooked
128.7 ± 2.9a,x
131.7 ± 0.5a,x
125.8 ± 5.9a,x
90.7 ± 7.1b,x
75.3 ± 2.3b,y
83.7 ± 4.8b,xy
79.7 ± 1.01a,x
86.0 ± 4.3a,y
87.7 ± 3.0a,y
42.8 ± 2.1b,x
42.7 ± 2.6b,x
44.6 ± 4.4b,x
Results expressed as mean values ± SD (n = 3).
a,b A difference in this superscript letter in the same row indicates significant differences (p < 0.05) for a given batch between raw and
cooked values.
x,y A difference in this superscript letter in the same column indicates significant differences (p < 0.05) between batches.
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
665
Speciation Analysis and Environment
69.6 ± 3.1a,x
60.7 ± 5.4b,x
74.3 ± 5.4a,x
73.9 ± 2.5a,y
84.3 ± 4.3a,y
55.6 ± 2.6b,x
90.3 ± 3.4a,x
76.5 ± 7.4b,x
98.6 ± 8.0a,xy
97.3 ± 3.3a,y
106.0 ± 5.4a,y
69.9 ± 3.2b,x
C
B
G
GI
G
GI
G
GI
A
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3–4).
G: gastric stage; GI: gastrointestinal stage.
a,b A difference in this superscript letter in a particular column indicates significant differences (p < 0.05) for a given batch in the soluble As contents in the gastric and gastrointestinal stages.
x,y A difference in this superscript letter in a particular column indicates significant differences (p < 0.05) between batches for the soluble As contents in the same stage of the digestion process.
74.1 ± 6.1a,x
81.4 ± 7.1a,x
75.8 ± 6.4a,x
84.4 ± 5.5a,x
71.7 ± 4.7a,x
78.3 ± 1.2a,x
31.7 ± 2.6a,x
34.8 ± 3.0a,x
32.4 ± 2.7a,x
36.1 ± 2.3a,x
32.0 ± 2.1a,x
35.7 ± 2.3a,x
62.9 ± 4.8a,x
61.9 ± 2.5a,x
67.8 ± 4.1a,xy
74.0 ± 1.9b,y
72.9 ± 5.2a,y
68.9 ± 5.5a,y
57.1 ± 2.5a,x
52.1 ± 4.3a,x
51.1 ± 3.1a,x
55.7 ± 1.5a,x
54.9 ± 3.9a,x
52.0 ± 4.2a,x
72.5 ± 7.3a,x
66.5 ± 1.0a,x
62.5 ± 1.0a,x
59.7 ± 2.0a,y
64.5 ± 2.3a,x
54.0 ± 2.0b,y
57.8 ± 5.8a,x
53.0 ± 0.8a,x
53.8 ± 0.8a,x
51.3 ± 1.7a,xy
57.7 ± 0.5a,x
48.4 ± 0.9b,y
%
Batch
In vitro
stage
t-As
µg g−1
Raw
µg g−1
i-As
%
µg g−1
t-As
%
Cooked
µg g−1
i-As
%
J. M. Laparra et al.
Table 2. Total and inorganic soluble arsenic contents (µg g−1 seaweed, dry weight) and bioaccessibility (percentages of bioaccessible AsT and AsI with respect to the total
AsT or AsI contents in seaweed) obtained after the gastric and gastrointestinal stages of an in vitro digestion method applied to raw and cooked H. fusiforme
666
swine exposed to soils treated with arsenic.19 The solubility
of arsenic in the acid environment of the stomach might,
therefore, be predictive for the relative oral bioavailability of
this element in animal models.13 There are no similar studies
for humans.
The bioaccessibility (percentage of t-As or i-As solubilized
after the gastrointestinal stage with respect to the total tAs or i-As contents in seaweed) varied in raw seaweed
in the range 55.6–73.9% for t-As and 54.0–66.5% for i-As
(Table 2). After cooking, the bioaccessibility remained at
similar percentages for t-As (61.9–74.6%), increasing for iAs (78.3–84.4%). Boiling may bring about a decrease in fibre
content and a denaturation of protein, permitting greater
accessibility of enzymes during proteolysis. Since arsenic(III)
bonds to protein groups with sulfur moieties and cysteine,1
boiling might facilitate the solubilization of arsenic(III) in
cooked seaweed, and consequently the solubilization of i-As.
The mean bioaccessibility of i-As in the batches analysed
(raw: 60.1 ± 6.3%; cooked: 81.4 ± 3.1%) is similar to the value
obtained by us for this seaweed in a previous study (raw:
75%; cooked: 88%).7 Studies of this nature could provide the
basis for defining an i-As bioaccessibility range in H. fusiforme
(60.1–88%), to be taken into account when establishing the
maximum i-As contents permitted in this food.
The tolerable daily intake (TDI) of i-As established for an
adult with a body weight of 70 kg is 150 µg day−1 .2 For i-As
it is usual to establish toxicological considerations on the
basis of the content in the raw product, although this may
not be the correct option. On this basis, assuming the mean
i-As content in the raw samples analysed (Table 1; mean
value: 83.2 µg g−1 ), consumption of 3 g (minimum average
daily consumption of brown seaweed by the Japanese)20 of
raw H. fusiforme would provide 250 µg of i-As, exceeding the
TDI by 67%. However, a more realistic approximation can
be obtained by including both the cooking of the product
and the bioaccessibility of the i-As. Assuming the mean
bioaccessible i-As content found in the cooked seaweed
(35.5 µg g−1 , Table 2), after consumption of 3 g of seaweed
107 µg of i-As could remain available for absorption, which
is 71% of the TDI. The difference between the percentage
of TDI represented by ingestion of this seaweed in the
two approximations indicates the need to take cooking and
bioaccessibility into account when evaluating the food safety
of H. fusiforme with respect to i-As.
Arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) in soluble fractions
HPLC–HG-AFS was the analytical method used for determination of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V). This technique only
allows detection of the arsenic species capable of forming volatile hydrides, which have traditionally included
arsenic(III), arsenic(V), monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid and trimethylarsine oxide, to which, after a
recent study by Schmeisser et al.,21 the dimethylarsinoylribosides (glycerol ribose, phosphate ribose, sulfonate ribose
and sulfate ribose) have been added. These arsenosugars,
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
Speciation Analysis and Environment
Bioaccessibility of inorganic arsenic in seaweed
which attain high concentrations in seaweed and are solubilized during the gastrointestinal process,15 give rise to
problems of overlapping with arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) in
a PRP-X100 column.22 In the conditions used in the present
study for HPLC–HG-AFS quantification, the injection of a
brown algae extract (Fucus serratus), which contained only
the four dimethylarsinoylribosides,23 did not generate any
signals. This indicates that our system is free from interference produced by volatile arsenosugars, perhaps because
arsenosugar hydride-activity is strongly dependent on the
type of hydride-generation system, the conditions employed,
or both.21
In order to quantify arsenic(III) and arsenic(V), first the
soluble fractions obtained from the gastric and gastrointestinal stages were injected directly into the chromatograph.
The mass balance between the t-As present in the soluble
fraction injected and the t-As eluted from the HPLC column
batch A
50
µg g-1 seaweed, dw
showed a recovery rate of 90%. However, the quantification of
arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) against the standard curve for each
species showed that for some samples the sum of arsenic(III)
and arsenic(V) was 60% of the i-As content detected in the
extract to be injected, which was quantified by the solvent
extraction flow injection-HG-AAS method described here
(Table 2). In the samples in which this disparity was found,
the addition of standards of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) did
not produce the expected increase in the chromatograph signal. Thus, there was an interference effect that could not be
eliminated by dilution or by using the standard addition
method. Seaweeds have high contents of minerals, proteins and fibre,24 compounds that are highly solubilized after
in vitro digestion,25,26 and these might by responsible for the
matrix interference effect.
In order to eliminate this interference, all the soluble fractions from raw and cooked seaweed, gastric and
raw
40
As(III)
cooked
30
As(V)
20
10
0
G
GI
GI
batch B
40
µg g-1 seaweed, dw
G
raw
30
As(III)
cooked
As(V)
20
10
0
G
GI
60
µg g-1 seaweed, dw
G
GI
batch C
raw
50
cooked
As(III)
As(V)
40
30
20
10
0
G
GI
G
GI
Figure 1. Soluble arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) contents obtained after the gastric (G) and gastrointestinal (GI) stages of an in vitro
digestion method applied to three batches of raw and cooked Hizikia fusiforme. The error bars represent the standard deviation of
independent replicates (n = 4).
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2004; 18: 662–669
667
668
J. M. Laparra et al.
gastrointestinal stages, were subjected to a clean-up procedure using a strong cation-exchanger resin. When the
clean-up procedure was applied, only arsenic(III) and
arsenic(V) appeared in the eluate, there was a recovery of
arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) ranging from 80 to 100%, and the
oxidation state of the species added did not change.
The arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) contents found in each of
the stages of the in vitro digestion of the various batches
of raw and cooked H. fusiforme are shown in Fig. 1. No
general pattern was observed in the solubilization of either
arsenic(III) or arsenic(V). In the gastric stage for raw seaweed,
all the batches had the same majority species, with arsenic(III)
representing 63–86% of the solubilized i-As. When the
raw sample digestion process concluded (gastrointestinal
stage, GI) the solubilized arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) were
in the ranges 18.4–45.3 µg g−1 seaweed and 2.2–26.1 µg g−1
seaweed respectively, and the percentages of the solubilized
i-As were in the ranges 36–94% and 5–51% respectively. In
cooked samples, the arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) solubilized
contents (GI stage) were in the ranges 7.1–25.4 µg g−1
seaweed and 7.5–23.8 µg g−1 seaweed respectively, and the
percentages of the solubilized i-As were in the ranges 20–70%
and 21–68% respectively. It must be emphasized that, in the
cooked seaweed analysed, the solubilized arsenic(III) contents
per gram of sample consumed represented 5–17% of the TDI
of i-As. This is a very high contribution if one considers that
it comes from only one type of food.
It is not possible to say with certainly whether the
arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) contents quantified reflect the true
nature of the species present in the sample or whether they
are a consequence of the effect of cooking, the conditions of
the in vitro digestion method, or the action that the solubilized
macro- and micro-nutrients may have on the oxidation state
of the inorganic species. However, it is possible that the
factors mentioned may act in an in vivo human digestion.
It has recently been shown that H. fusiforme is a natural
source of soluble antioxidants in water and in fat.27 Other
compounds, such as ascorbic acid, amino acids (histidine,
tryptophan, tyrosine, cysteine, glutathione) and numerous
proteins, also have a reductive capacity. The effect of the
reducing substances present in foods on the transformation
of arsenic(V) into arsenic(III) has been reported by other
workers.28,29 Small variations in the solubilized oxidizing
and/or reducing substances in each batch and even between
the two digestions of a particular sample might be the cause of
the different arsenic(III)/arsenic(V) relationships found, and
of the relative standard deviation (up to 28%) obtained in
some of the samples analysed.
CONCLUSIONS
All the batches of H. fusiforme edible seaweed analysed had
high contents of t-As and i-As. Cooking decreased the iAs contents but increased the bioaccessibility of the toxic
i-As, a fact that we consider to be of interest, as this
Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Speciation Analysis and Environment
cooking is customary for the consumption of H. fusiforme.
The results obtained show that a more realistic estimation
of the toxicological risk involved in consumption of H.
fusiforme should take the bioaccessibility of arsenic(III) and
arsenic(V) into account. The estimation made in the present
study for the fraction of the element theoretically available
for intestinal absorption (bioaccessible) is a first approach to
evaluation of the toxicological risk. An improvement in these
in vitro systems has been initiated by our work group with
the introduction of cell cultures (Caco-2 cells), a model of the
intestinal epithelium, which will make it possible to achieve
a simulation closer to the in vivo situation.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by project MCyT AGL2001-1789, for
which the authors are deeply indebted. J. M. Laparra received a
Personnel Training Grant from the project to carry out this study.
Fucus serratus samples were kindly donated to us by Dr Kevin A.
Francesconi (Karl-Franzens-University, Austria).
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